This is my great-great grandmother, Caroline Jane Webber Gile, as a new mother with her first child, as an old widow with her grandson, and a scrapbook with poems and jokes she collected from newspapers, no doubt to help her smile and carry on in her widowhood and old age. She experienced much tragedy inContinue reading “Caroline Gile’s Scrapbook”
Author Archives: Mary Koeven
Organizing Research Digitally
Here’s one thing I am doing to organize my research: I used TreeSeek.com to generate two 9-generation PDF pedigree charts. One chart is from my FamilySearch Tree, the other is from my RootsMagic file, which originated from my Ancestry tree. Both trees are large with plenty of errors, so I highlighted where there are discrepanciesContinue reading “Organizing Research Digitally”
3 Ways to Preserve Old Family Artifacts
A while back I wrote a post about what you should not do with old family artifacts such as photos, documents, and heirlooms. Today I will tell you three things you can do with them instead to preserve them.
Some Notes on Chinese Genealogy
To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right. – Confucius (551 BCContinue reading “Some Notes on Chinese Genealogy”
Reflections on Mothers Day
Thinking back on this last Mothers Day, I remember the mothers who came before me. The mother in this picture is my grandmother, Margaret (DeWitt) Gile. The tiny baby is my mother. Being a mother now myself I realize how difficult it really is. I only have one kid right now and she is soContinue reading “Reflections on Mothers Day”
The Cliffords, Part 2: Family Scandal
This is a continuation of my account on the Clifford family. For more information, see Part 1. In 1878, Sophia Clifford sold the land that she and Lewis had bought in Iowa. Apparently her sons (Fred was 20 and Charles was 15) wanted to seek more opportunities out west rather than stay and work theContinue reading “The Cliffords, Part 2: Family Scandal”
Using Historical Place Names
A good question came up on my favorite genealogy Facebook group, Genealogy! Just Ask! yesterday. I tried to answer it as best I could on the original post, and others gave some good input as well, but I thought it would be helpful to some if I answered it more in depth here on myContinue reading “Using Historical Place Names”
Can Census Records be Wrong?
Featured Image: Taking the Census. Illustration in Harper’s Weekly, 1870. Found in Library of Congress Digital Collection. A few decades ago, it was very difficult to find one’s ancestor in a census record. You had to go to an archive or library and really know what you were looking for to find the record. Today,Continue reading “Can Census Records be Wrong?”
The Cliffords, Part 1: Brick Wall Immigrants
Featured Image: Hamburger Hafen (Port of Hamburg) by Adolph Friedrich Vollmer, 1840. Ah, yes. Clifford. Kliefoth. The family that made me want to study German Genealogy in college. And I studied for four years and still didn’t find them. But they will be found. Someday. They originated in Germany as Kliefoth (pronounced like “klee-fote”), andContinue reading “The Cliffords, Part 1: Brick Wall Immigrants”
Research Summary: Andrew
Featured image: John Wesley Andrew sitting on his porch in Geneva, Nebraska Surname summary: I have decided to devote my research time each month to one direct line surname that exists in my five-generation pedigree. My surname for the month of November was Andrew. This is one of the few lines on my grandmother’s sideContinue reading “Research Summary: Andrew”